Ditchdigging machine



Nov. 22, 1949 B. SOUTH DITCH DIGGING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. l2, 1948 m. 1 mv I wv o V IIIIIII |I.\\ SSS mv n vh NQ |I Sv QQ v s lll Hue" III n\.\ f o I1 O `|\.||||V| V 4 t mm N www@ wm mm Illll www/fw \l om um /o QN .S f1 ,/ul I Uhlldm. rv: vm mkow l L ll/ S r Pl I i I l I I I I I S Inventor L u/her B. 9 50u/h Nov. 22, 1949 1 B. SOUTH DITCH DIGGING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 12, 1948 Luther Soul/7 Nov. 22, 1949 B. soUTH 2,488,990

` DxTcH-DIGGING MACHINE Filed Jan. 12, 41942s 3 sheets-sheep 5 Fig. 3. 4 IV" Inventor uf/1er B.' South @Mm @d/amy 5.9mm

Patented Nov. 22, 1949 MEN oFFicE v'2',v188,990

.DIYTCHDIGGING MACHINE Lut/henk. South, Corpus Christi, Tex., assigner of A twentyperfcentfto Rogers F; Estes andzth'rty vperv cent.;to.Willie Bezdek, both of- Corpus Christh'Texl Application January 12, 1948, Serial'No. 1,822

' This inventionvrelates-v toI a ditch` digging machine where dirt l is :effectively removed andthe possiblity of anyv` earth falli-ng back into 'the-ditch is obviated.

An object of `theinventiorr is'to provide aimachine whichwillioperate nto digany desired lditch eilciently.

Another object of'the invention is to provide means whereby the 'device is Yquickly connected to or detached "fromany l,tractor orijeep and is ,easily carried'about-from. place to place.

A still `further object-of .the invention is to, provide a lightmachine, rigidly constructed .and/capable of use inznarrow and usuallyinaccessible places, in trenching workfor building foundations, or for diggingshallowditches for waterland gas lines.

More specifically, a digging machine is providedwith meanstocut and scoop up dirt and convey it to one side of the ditch. Bailles to keep the dirt from falling back'intoltheditch are provided and meansto regulate the. depth of the ditch is included.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear vand'for purposes of illustration but not limitation, an embodiment of the invention isshown in thefaccompanying drawings in which:

Figure -1..is a plan View ofi-the. ditch/digging machine; Figure` 2.*is a side lelevation of the ditch digging machine;

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken along the line 3`-3 of Figure l;

Figure 4 is a sectional View as viewed in the direction of the arrows on Figure 3, and

Figure 5 is a horizontal section taken along line 5 5 of Figure 4, and shows a detail of the gage.

Referring to Figures 1 through 4, a frame I0 has welded to it a pair of side beams I2 and I4 which terminate a distance beyond one end ofv frame ll). Journaled to side beams I2 and I4, by means of shaft I6 is a ditch digging wheel i8 which includes along the outer periphery thereof a series of digging blades 20 which form cup or bucket-shaped portions 22 at the inner end. The wheel is braced by the usual spokes 24 at one side thereof and are reinforced by additional spokes 26 journaled to shaft I6. Within the inner perimeter of the wheel I3 and in close proximity thereto, is an arcuate guard 28 approximately equal to half the perimeter of the wheel and is secured to beam I4 by a support rod 3-2. The upper portion of the guard 28 is provided with 2Vr an inclined sliderportion" -30k disposedyadjacent conveyorv 354', soon .toubermore fully'explained; Referring to.Figures.2 and'3,A conveyor belt 3.4

travels aroundishaftsa .and A33, `on Aanincline to the' vertical and receives; the; dirtgdugv Yby*l blaldesr20 and vretained in buckets orcups 22 Aby'fmeans'of guard 2t from the .slide 3'0 atiits lower endand is carried away l"for, a. distance of about. v2 .'feet be,- fore being dumped atthezs'idel of the.y ditch.Y `Conveyor 31 is enclosed withintwofstepped guards' 40 journaled at each'fendetofshaftsi36" and "38. One end 440i the shaft 36extends:beyond guard 40 and a suitable sprocket-JH?mountedE on the end-M of shaft 36 engages a chainndrivedZftrained about a further sprocket 456. -Supporting thehshaft I6 for rotationis agear-.housing-.48-, within whichis mounted a gear supportingshaft 50, bestfshown inrFigure 3. One end of the-fshaft 50.V extends outwardly from-ther housing Iwand supportsv the aforementioned. sprocket-46. Afgear .52, Within the housing 48 andsecureto thefshaft -I-S, en gages a gear 53:on1the shaft 5,'0 for. simultaneous rotation of the wheel I8 `and-the conveyor. y34.`

As best seeneinFigures4- and-5, an attachment 54 is provided inorder yto determine .the-.depth of the ditch digging wheelxl. Theattachment54 includes outwardly tapering sides 56,-58-rin-order to both hold the dirtuntilpicked uprby theblades and:cup and to prevent-the dirt from pushing out. Afflange 6I! extends from'therbottom of. sides 55., 5S for contacting the ground. Welded 4.to gage. 54 are rods 62 slidable in collar 64, welded on beams I2 and I4, and locked against movement at 66. Thus, by adjustment of rod 62, the depth of the digging Wheel I8 will be indicated.

Removably journaled to beams I2 and I4 is a transverse baille 68 of Y-shape 10, 12 and held in position by means of pins 14, 16. The function of baille 68 is to act as a guard and follow along the ditch just behind wheel I8, as is clearly shown in Figure 2, in order to enable bucket 22 again to pick up any dirt that may fall back into the ditch. Batlle 68 can be removed by pulling pins 14, 'I8 where such protection is not found necessary.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a pair of linking members 'I8 are retained in ears Sl) welded to side beams I2 and i4 by locking means B2 and are adjustably connected at B4 to shaft 86 pivoted at 88 to a yoke 90. Yoke 90 is held on the inner side of a pair of shafts IDB by means of lock nuts 92. A shaft Sli is pivoted at 96 to the yoke 90 and is engaged by tractor 98 at the other end, as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2. Shafts |00 are telescoped within beams l2 and I4 to permit sliding movement when the digging wheel is raised from the supporting surface to facilitate transportation of the device from place to place. Shafts |00 are pivoted at |0| to the housing of tractor 98.

A power shaft |02 is connected by a universal joint connection |04, |06 to the shaft 59 and is connected at its other end to a power take-off (not shown), on tractor 98. A transverse annular tube |08 is welded to the top of frame |0 at its front end to provide clearance for shaft 86.

The operation of the device will now be described. Shaft 94 is pivotally connected at ||0 to hydraulic means (not shown) on the tractor, thus enabling the ditch digging machine to be connected to tractor 98 and retained in operative or inoperative position by suitable controls (not shown). The machine is shown in inoperative position in dotted lines in Figure 2, and in operation in full lines. Shaft 86, connected to yoke 90 and ears B0 are moved upward by means of shaft 94 retained on yoke 9|) and 96 and pivoted to tractor 98 and ||0 when the device is not in use. By proper manipulation of hydraulic means (not shown) of tractor 98, the digging wheel is lowered to operating position. Shaft |00 telescopes within side beams |2 and I4 to compensate for changes in position.

Shaft |02 is connected to the power take-off of the tractor 98 and to the shaft 50 in order to rotate the chain drive 42, thus actuating the conveyor 34, and to also rotate the shaft 50 to thereby rotate the digging wheel i8. By this arrangement, the conveyor belt 34 will be rotated during rotation of the digging wheel I8. Blades 20 dig the ditch, the earth is carried upward in buckets 22 and retained by means of guard 28 until the upper level is reached. The dirt is then deposited on slide 30 and is carried away by conveyor 34 to be dumped at the side of the ditch. Gage 54 is adjusted by rods 62 to indicate the depth of the ditch to be dug and slides along the ground on flange 60. Baille 6B is removably attached by pins 14, 16 to the rear of Wheel I8 to prevent any dirt from falling back into the ditch.

It is obvious that numerous changes in details of construction, arrangement and operation may be effected without departing from the spirit of the invention especially as defined in the appended claim.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

In a ditch digging machine, a frame, a shaft carried by the frame, a ditch digging wheel mounted on said shaft and including a pair of spaced members, a plurality of circmnferentially spaced digging blades xed between said pair of spaced members, an arcuate guard and retainer plate secured to the frame and disposed radially inwardly of said digging blades to provide a sliding surface for material held on said blades, said'guard and retainer plate having a downwardly and laterally inclined upper end portion constituting a slide, means for rotating the digging wheel, a conveyor mounted on the frame for receiving material discharged from the upper end portion of said guard and retainer plate, said conveyor having a lower end portion underlying the upper end portion of said guard and retainer plate, and attaching means for securing the frame to the hydraulic lift mechanism of a tractor, said attaching means comprising a U-shaped member having its ends pivoted to said frame, a rod terminally pivoted to said U-shaped member and to the lift mechanism of a tractor, a lateral projection at the central portion of said U-shaped member, a pair of rearwardly diverging tubular members having forward and rear end portions, the forward end portions of said tubular members being pivoted to said lateral projection, the rear end portions of said tubular members being internally threaded, a pair of link members pivoted to said frame, and a threaded connection between said link members and the internally threaded rear end portions of said tubular members, said frame including a pair of side members pivoted to a tractor frame and to the lift mechanism of a tractor.

LUTHER B. SOUTH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 317,481 Zeis v May 5, 1885 1,482,904 Moore et a1 Feb. 5, 1924 2,252,837 Dicke Aug. 19, 1941 2,329,659 Smith Sept. 14, 1943 2,404,123 Clark July 16, 1946 

